How to Know How Much to Ask for Your Used Car

If you have a car that you no longer want, there are a few ways to get rid of it. You can donate it or gift it to someone, sell it privately, or trade it in at the dealership.

For nearly everyone who owns a car, there is a significant financial investment into the car purchase and you want to realize as much of that money back as possible when the time comes to get rid of it. In that way, a private sale is your best option to get the most for your car.

It’s difficult to set the advertised price because most people aren’t expert car salespeople. The price of a car is based on a handful of factors including:

The car’s appearance and physical condition

The car’s mechanical condition

The current mileage

The demand in the marketplace for you vehicle

The features and options in the car

Following these guidelines, you can set the price for your used car to get the most money from its sale.

Part 1 of 4: Consider the car’s trade-in value

When you are selling a car, you can determine your vehicle’s approximate market value by comparing your car’s trade-in value at the dealership.

Step 1: Have your vehicle appraised by a car dealer. Usually it is the used car sales manager at a dealership that performs used car appraisals.

Clean your vehicle well and empty it of personal contents so the dealer can see its true condition.

The appraised trade-in value is lower than your car’s advertised and selling price. The dealer accounts for potential reconditioning costs, mechanical repairs, and includes a margin for profit as well.

Tip: You may have to pay a small fee for a car appraisal if you don’t intend on trading your car in or selling it to the dealership.

Average the dealer’s appraisal amount with the Kelley Blue Book trade-in valuation, then multiply the result by 1.25 to see the price you should look to get for your used car.

Part 2 of 4: Determine the fair market value

You can use online tools to determine a fair asking price for your vehicle. Fair market price tools take into consideration vehicles listed for sale in your area so you can accurately determine an asking price for your used car.

Be sure to look only for vehicles near your location and for models that are within 1 year newer or older than your vehicle if there aren’t many listings.

Step 2: Widen the search area. If you have a specialty vehicle, widen the search area until you have 5-7 similar vehicles to compare with.

Step 3: Select similar vehicles. Select vehicles with similar equipment and mileage for the most accurate comparisons.

Step 4: Average the prices. When you have 5-7 comparable vehicle listings, average out their advertised prices.

This is a great way to determine a starting price point for your car.

Part 4 of 4: Set the advertised price

Your advertised price is largely dependent on your vehicle’s condition, though you are free to set your advertised price higher or lower at your discretion. You’ll also want to have a firm number in mind for your desired selling price.

Step 1: Figure out a minimum price. Decide on an minimum amount you would be satisfied selling your used car for.

The selling price may be the amount you still owe on your car loan or a number you believe is fair. Typically, your selling price is somewhere between your trade-in value and your advertised price.

Step 2: Set your price. Set your advertised price 5-10% higher than the minimum price you would be willing to accept.

For example, if your car has a trade-in value of $9,000 and you’d be happy selling your car for $10,000, advertise your car for sale somewhere around $10,500 to $11,000.

Tip: A lower advertised price typically garners more attention and more inquiries about your car while a higher advertised price leaves you more room to negotiate. Use the strategy you are more comfortable with.

Pricing your used vehicle properly will not only help your used car valuable ad get attention but will help you get the best price possible as well. If you want to establish credibility with any potential buyers, have a pre-purchase inspection performed by one of YourMechanic’s certified professionals to verify that your car is in the promised condition.

Q: Long stall between 2nd and 3rd gears, plus whining noise

Hello Without having a good impression of the actual symptoms you are experiencing, it would be difficult to tell you the exact problem. I would recommend having your transmission fluid level and condition checked first. Then, if the fluid level...

Q: Why is the paint coming off?

This particular concern of yours hits close to home for me, as I am one to love a shiny clean car with nice paint! As a fellow Honda owner, I am quite familiar with the paint deterioration issues Honda has...